Review-If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones

One day I was a high school teacher on summer break, leading a relatively uneventful but happy life. Or so I told myself. Later, I’d question that, as I would question pretty much everything I knew about me, my relationships, and my desires. It all began when my neighbor thrust a key to a storage unit at me. She’d bought it to make extra money after watching some storage auction show. Now she was on her way to the airport to elope with a man she barely knew, and she needed me to clear out the unit before the lease expired.

Soon, I was standing inside a small room that held the intimate details of another woman’s life, feeling uncomfortable, as if I was invading her privacy. Why had she let these items so neatly packed, possessions that she clearly cared about deeply, be lost at an auction? Driven to find out by some unnamed force, I began to dig, to discover this woman’s life, and yes, read her journals—-dark, erotic journals that I had no business reading. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I read on obsessively, living out fantasies through her words that I’d never dare experience on my own, compelled by the three men in her life, none of whom had names. I read onward until the last terrifying dark entry left me certain that something had happened to this woman. I had to find her and be sure she was okay.

Before long, I was taking her job for the summer at the art gallery, living her life, and she was nowhere to be found. I was becoming someone I didn’t know. I was becoming her.

The dark, passion it becomes…

Now, I am working at a prestigious gallery, where I have always dreamed of being, and I’ve been delivered to the doorstep of several men, allof which I envision as one I’ve read about in the journal. But there is one man that will call to me, that will awaken me in ways I never believed possible. That man is the ruggedly sexy artist, Chris Merit, who wants to paint me. He is rich and famous, and dark in ways I shouldn’t find intriguing, but I do. I so do. I don’t understand why his dark side appeals to me, but the attraction between us is rich with velvety promises of satisfaction. Chris is dark, and so are his desires, but I cannot turn away. He is damaged beneath his confident good looks and need for control, and in some way, I feel he needs me. I need him.

All I know for certain is that he knows me like I don’t even know me, and he says I know him. Still, I keep asking myself — do I know him? Did he know her, the journal writer, and where is she? And why doesn’t it seem to matter anymore? There is just him and me, and the burn for more

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is the author of the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT SERIES, and is now in development by Suzanne Todd (Alice in Wonderland) for cable TV. In addition, her Tall, Dark and Deadly series and The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series, both spent several months on a combination of the NY Times and USA Today lists.

In the first few pages Lisa Renee Jones sweeps you off your feet making you beg for more. There is mystery, romance, and intrigue swept up in the pages. The story follows Sara McMillian who is presently a school teacher leading into summer vacation. When her best friend stays the night and forgets her journal Sara finds herself captivated in the pages. Her best friends comes over the next day to share news of her wedding and leaves Sara with the journal explaining they belong to a storage unit she bought.

Determined to find the owner of the intimate journals she heads to the storage unit. There she finds out the journal belongs to Rebecca. She also learns that Rebecca works at an upscale art gallery. Determined to find Rebecca she heads there under the ruse of a friend of Rebecca.

Quickly swept up in the mystery of Rebecca's disappearance she agrees to take Rebecca's place at the gallery for the summer. When she meets Mark, her boss he oozes dominance and control. She finds herself leery of getting too close to him but maintains control.

Then you have Chris Merit, an artist that is swept up in Sara. He begins a relationship with her that even he can't define. Two broken souls are brought together in a relationship that is doomed from the start but against all odds they are determined to come together.

If I Were You is filled with mystery and you find yourself eagerly reading trying to find Rebecca. The two alpha's are in a war that even Sara sees. Lisa Renee Jones has given us an original story that will keep you eager for the next book.